PUBLIC LAW 104–238—OCT. 3, 1996

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPENDENTS

ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1996
110 STAT. 3114 PUBLIC LAW 104–238—OCT. 3, 1996

Public Law 104–238

104th Congress

An Act

To provide educational assistance to the dependents of Federal law enforcement

officials who are killed or disabled in the performance of their duties.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Law Enforcement

Dependents Assistance Act of 1996’’.

SEC. 2. EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO DEPENDENTS OF SLAIN FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

Part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets

Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) is amended by—

(1) inserting after the heading the following:

‘‘Subpart 1—Death Benefits’’;

and

(2) adding at the end the following:

‘‘Subpart 2—Educational Assistance to Dependents of Civilian Federal Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Disabled in the Line of Duty

‘‘SEC. 1211. PURPOSES.

‘‘The purposes of this subpart are—

‘‘(1) to enhance the appeal of service in civilian Federal

law enforcement agencies;

‘‘(2) to extend the benefits of higher education to qualified

and deserving persons who, by virtue of the death of or total

disability of an eligible officer, may not be able to afford it

otherwise; and

‘‘(3) to allow the family members of eligible officers to

attain the vocational and educational status which they would

have attained had a parent or spouse not been killed or disabled

in the line of duty.

‘‘SEC. 1212. BASIC ELIGIBILITY.

‘‘(a) BENEFITS.—(1) Subject to the availability of appropriations,

the Attorney General shall provide financial assistance to a dependent who attends a program of education and is—

‘‘(A) the child of any eligible Federal law enforcement officer

under subpart 1; or

42 USC 3796d–1.

42 USC 3796d.

Federal Law

Enforcement

Dependents

Assistance Act of

1996.

42 USC 3711

note.

Oct. 3, 1996

[S. 2101]
PUBLIC LAW 104–238—OCT. 3, 1996 110 STAT. 3115

‘‘(B) the spouse of an officer described in subparagraph

(A) at the time of the officer’s death or on the date of a

totally and permanently disabling injury.

‘‘(2) Financial assistance under this subpart shall consist of

direct payments to an eligible dependent and shall be computed

on the basis set forth in section 3532 of title 38, United States

Code.

‘‘(b) DURATION OF BENEFITS.—No dependent shall receive assistance under this subpart for a period in excess of forty-five months

of full-time education or training or a proportional period of time

for a part-time program.

‘‘(c) AGE LIMITATION FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN.—No dependent child shall be eligible for assistance under this subpart after

the child’s 27th birthday absent a finding by the Attorney General

of extraordinary circumstances precluding the child from pursuing

a program of education.

‘‘SEC. 1213. APPLICATIONS; APPROVAL.

‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—A person seeking assistance under this subpart shall submit an application to the Attorney General in such

form and containing such information as the Attorney General

reasonably may require.

‘‘(b) APPROVAL.—The Attorney General shall approve an

application for assistance under this subpart unless the Attorney

General finds that—

‘‘(1) the dependent is not eligible for, is no longer eligible

for, or is not entitled to the assistance for which application

is made;

‘‘(2) the dependent’s selected educational institution fails

to meet a requirement under this subpart for eligibility;

‘‘(3) the dependent’s enrollment in or pursuit of the educational program selected would fail to meet the criteria established in this subpart for programs; or

‘‘(4) the dependent already is qualified by previous education or training for the educational, professional, or vocational

objective for which the educational program is offered.

‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION.—The Attorney General shall notify a

dependent applying for assistance under this subpart of approval

or disapproval of the application in writing.

‘‘SEC. 1214. REGULATIONS.

The Attorney General may promulgate reasonable and necessary regulations to implement this subpart.

‘‘SEC. 1215. DISCONTINUATION FOR UNSATISFACTORY CONDUCT OR

PROGRESS.

‘‘The Attorney General may discontinue assistance under this

subpart when the Attorney General finds that, according to the

regularly prescribed standards and practices of the educational

institution, the recipient fails to maintain satisfactory progress

as described in section 484(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965

(20 U.S.C. 1091(c)).

‘‘SEC. 1216. SPECIAL RULE.

‘‘(a) RETROACTIVE ELIGIBILITY.—Notwithstanding any other

provision of law, each dependent of a Federal law enforcement

officer killed in the line of duty on or after May 1, 1992, shall

42 USC 3796d–5.

42 USC 3796d–4.

42 USC 3796d–3.

42 USC 3796d–2.
110 STAT. 3116 PUBLIC LAW 104–238—OCT. 3, 1996

be eligible for assistance under this subpart, subject to the other

limitations of this subpart.

‘‘(b) RETROACTIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Attorney General may provide retroactive assistance to dependents eligible under this section

for each month in which the dependent pursued a program of

education at an eligible educational institution. The Attorney General shall apply the limitations contained in this subpart to retroactive assistance.

‘‘(c) PROSPECTIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Attorney General may provide prospective assistance to dependents eligible under this section

on the same basis as assistance to dependents otherwise eligible.

In applying the limitations on assistance under this subpart, the

Attorney General shall include assistance provided retroactively.

A dependent eligible under this section may waive retroactive assistance and apply only for prospective assistance on the same basis

as dependents otherwise eligible.

‘‘SEC. 1217. DEFINITIONS.

‘‘For purposes of this subpart:

‘‘(1) The term ‘Attorney General’ means the Attorney General of the United States.

‘‘(2) The term ‘Federal law enforcement officer’ has the

same meaning as under subpart 1.

‘‘(3) The term ‘program of education’ means any curriculum

or any combination of unit courses or subjects pursued at

an eligible educational institution, which generally is accepted

as necessary to fulfill requirements for the attainment of a

predetermined and identified educational, professional, or vocational objective. It includes course work for the attainment

of more than one objective if in addition to the previous requirements, all the objectives generally are recognized as reasonably

related to a single career field.

‘‘(4) The term ‘eligible educational institution’ means an

institution which—

‘‘(A) is described in section 481 of the Higher Education

Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088), as in effect on the date

of the enactment of this section; and

‘‘(B) is eligible to participate in programs under title

IV of such Act.

42 USC 3796d–6.

Applicability.
PUBLIC LAW 104–238—OCT. 3, 1996 110 STAT. 3117

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2101:

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 142 (1996):

Sept. 20, considered and passed Senate.

Sept. 26, considered and passed House.

Æ

‘‘SEC. 1218. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this

subpart such sums as may be necessary.’’.

Approved October 3, 1996.

42 USC 3796d–7.